Officials Tight-Lipped As Ministers Discuss Rafale Deal

The French Defense Minister’s visit is considered to be a serious attempt to thrash out the issues that can continue to dog the deal. The talks with the Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar for French Defense Minister Jean Yves Le Drian in order to salvage the multi- billion Rafale contract even as a specific deadlock that also continues to hold up the deal. Since it was believed that the two Ministers met which is the Cost Negotiating Committee (CNC) that is understood to have submitted the particular report for the Ministry of Defense.

Le Drian met with Parrikar for almost 45 minutes at the constructed South Block office during which the French minister took up the issue of the Rafale deal. It is thereby meant as the Ministry of Defense as well as the French officials remained tight-lipped over what transpired at the meeting. The efforts between both the sides would be a factor to decide the current advancing issue at the earliest thus possible at the particular moment. The prominent visit by the French Minister that certainly comes just after a month he and the Indian representative in this particular field met and eventually decided to fast track the contract negotiations for nearly an amount of $10-billion deal for 126 Rafale fighter jets.

The Defense Minister from India Manohar Parrikar said he would not comment on the Rafale deal as the discussions were ongoing under CNC, which was certainly asked to expedite the eminent process. The entire defense sources said that three of the total four sub committees progressively negotiate with the Rafale tender that had completed their allotted tasks of determining offsets and further providing efficient maintenance support and the technology transfer to HAL( Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) to license that are certainly meant as requisite to produce prominent Rafael. Alongside the fourth CNC that was certainly in the constitution with Dassault and was scheduled in view of submitting the significant report. The main issue arising is the pricing which is profoundly considered the basics with the production cost India and Dassault’s reluctance to stand under a guarantee for the 108 fighters in order to built the state run HAL. Our country has selected Rafale for the prominent deal in the year 2012. The 18 jets are to be bought off, the shelf with 108 that are finely supposed to be manufactured in India by the HAL.

Under the terms of the contract, 18 of the Rafale Planes will be sold and are thereby ready to fly while the rest of them will be assembled at a state run Indian facility as an eminent part of the government’s kind efforts in order to build a domestic military industrial base. India insists that Dassault take the entire responsibility for the aircraft that is produced at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited plant in Bengaluru; a Defense Ministry official made a statement ahead of the Defense Minister’s relative talks. It is believed that the Rafale was picked in 2012 over a rival offers from the United States, Europe, and Russia for a particular deal that is initially worth $12 billion but now it is estimated to have crossed over $20 billion. France has significantly stated that it will assist Hindustan Aeronautics to stick to the ever grossing delivery schedules, but it cannot further guarantee for production of the aircraft made at a determining facility over which it has no administrative as well as expert control.

The Indian Defense official further stated that French delegation of some prominent company officials has held certain talks over the past several weeks in order to try and find a victorious option surrounding the issue of guarantees and further claimed that no more details can be given.